Team Faded
by papayann
Summary: It was oddly funny... even on their deathbeds, stricken with 2 of the most deadly diseases currently known, Sasuke and Naruto's rivalry was just so eminent.
1. Chapter 1

Kakashi sighed deeply, wrenching down his mask and pouring himself a shot before slumping onto the couch. Today… well, to put it lightly, today was not a good day. His Sasuke's treatment had finally moved to the stage that signified desperation. Really, Kakashi could tell it was bad if the medics had given up on their own abilities to rely on such a method.

Ignoring the couch's groans of protest, Kakashi stood. He made his way slowly toward his room, adding his current clothes to the growing mounds of old ones.

_Vest first_, he found himself thinking. That was the one piece of clothing that didn't need to go in a pile, seeing as there was only one. He flung it across the room.

_Shirt next._ He pulled it off and added it to said pile.

_Mesh armor._ Me slipped out of it, actually folding the garment before setting it down.

_Pants._ He started to pull those off too, but met resistance around his thigh. He revised his mental checklist. _Weapon pouch._ Leaving his pants half-off, he unwrapped the leg binding.

_Now pants._ He began removing them again.

His hands shook violently.

--

_Sasuke, in a wheelchair. Dark, Uchiha-crested clothes gone, replaced with those horridly white hospital abominations. His skin was paler then ever, translucent even, with Oruchimaru's mark and the surrounding seal standing out in stark contrast. Purple surrounded his averted eyes. His lips were shiny, but in the way the betrayed their dryness, not fullness. _

_His headband circled his neck now, worn only due to Naruto's impassioned insistence, creating a noose-like look. But the worst park, Kakashi decided, had to be the absence of his pupil's beautiful, dark hair._

_Gone. As in, every single bit of it._

--

Kakashi allowed himself another shot. That disease of Sasuke's… not many people survived it, and those who did normally recovered only with the help of the medic-nin's own abilities. This type of treatment was too harsh, killing many harmless, good cells along with the bad ones.

He couldn't believe that the kid had reached that stage. Sasuke had so much more in store for him in life…

It was stupid, Kakashi decided. Plain and simple. It was a stupid way for the very last of the great Uchiha clan to die in such an utterly pathetic way. Ninja died in a blaze of glory, in _battle_, in honor of their village and their comrades. Not by some disease.

And it _was_ pathetic- all of Sasuke's dignity had been stripped away. First went that dark, alluring look Kakashi knew that his student worked so hard to build for himself. Then went his goals- there was no way in the world for Sasuke to acheive all that he had strived for. His pride was still there, but it had taken a definite beating as he was forced to rely on others to get even the simplest things done. Not to mention the constant poking and prodding of the medics. Sasuke had had to let people-worse, _strangers_- see him at his most vulnerable, and he hated it.

Kakashi could never have guessed how much it would hurt, seeing Sasuke fade away like this. He had been sure to care for the boy as only a pupil. Admittedly, he had ended up becoming rather close to him, but it was still only a master-pupil relationship.

But Kakashi had forgotten. _Uchiha._

_Obito._

It hurt so much, he finally realized, because he couldn't even protect the last living memory of his Obito.

He'd forgotten, it seemed. Forgotten how painful it was to have attachments in this world.

* * *

Hn, I don't know what to say. This is weird for me. But I'm trying to get better at writing tragedy stuff for another fic I'm planning, so… well, I guess that's kinda self-explanatory. I think I put entirely too much boring stuff in there, though. Next chapter's got Sasuke and Naruto and dialogue, so hopefully it's a bit more readable… I'm so sorry oo 


	2. Chapter 2

Another short one, I'm sorry. But I suck at writing such angsty/depressing stuff, so short chunks are all I can handle at the moment. Would someone mind giving me some feedback?

**Note: **"Idiots don't get sick" is an actually saying in Japan, believe it or not. I dunno why, it just is :P

* * *

"HEEEEEY! I CAN _WALK,_ YOU MORONS!!!"

Sasuke sighed, smirking to himself. Naruto was obviously here to see him if the steady stream of noise coming towards his room was any indication… why the little brat always had to cause an uproar was beyond him, though. He folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, fighting to keep the smirk from evolving into a smile.

He heard the door open. Naruto immediately shut up. Suspicious, Sasuke opened his eyes.

He was definitely not excepting what he saw. Naruto was there all right, but he was sitting on a _hospital bed._ Only patients got hospital beds…

"So moron, what did you do this time? Overdid it fighting the war that you were _banned from_ again?" Sasuke's smirk slid off his face when Naruto didn't come up with some stupid comeback. "Hey, Naruto?" he questioned, keeping his voice neutral.

"…ah, it's nothing, you bastard! I am WAY too good to get hurt in a stupid war, it's just a dumb cold! But Granny Tsunade stuck me here with _you…_I don't believe her!" Naruto pouted, crossing his legs and arms simultaneously.

Sasuke felt relieved. He'd almost got worried there.

"Hey baldy! Snap outta it!"

Yeah, Sasuke decided, nothing was wrong with this stupid blonde. Idiots don't _get_ sick.

--

_The papers… they… no…_

"_Naruto, I'm so, so sorry," Tsunade was saying. Naruto hardly registered the words. The test was positive… it wasn't possible… was all of Team 7 doomed to disease?_

_Sasuke had cancer… but now he, Naruto Uzumaki, had AIDS. How the hell was that possible?_

…_wait, that's right. It _wasn't_ possible. The ninetails would have dealt with any virus. _Any. _Even AIDS. Excited, he opened his mouth to reassure the Fifth._

"_Nah, Granny, you've got it ALL wrong!" his laugh sounded too loud. "I _can't_ have AIDS! I've got to become the next Hokage and win this war for Konoha! And I've got the fox! I _never_ get sick, I _can't!_ I don't go back on my word, it's my way of the ninja! Remember?"_

_When he re-opened his eyes, Tsunade was crying._


	3. Chapter 3

_As soon as Oruchimaru had bitten this Uchiha prodigy, he knew. He could taste the sheer _wrongness_ of it all in his blood._

_He placed the curse seal on his neck anyway. It was too lovely a stretch of skin _not _to mark. And besides, this Uchiha had such a burning desire for revenge. Watching him destroy his own life for the sake of power he wouldn't be granted would be interesting, to say the least. Having mastered every jutsu, Oruchimaru was certainly more than a little bored._

_So when Sasuke came to seek him out, he turned the child away with a sadistic smirk. He was right- it _was _enjoyable to watch the shell-shocked boy, fresh from his battle with his closest friend, flare to life as his eyes finally showed some emotion with his pupils dilating in shock. "No! Teach me anyway! I don't care if I'm going to die!"_

_Oruchimaru felt joyous. He knew Sasuke had absolutely nothing to return to now. The blood of his best friend, that blonde, was still on his hands. "Ah, but Sasuke," he hissed, leaning until his lips nearly touched the frozen boy's ear, "how would that benefit me?" Sasuke flinched. "Besides," he continued in satisfaction, "watching humans destroy themselves is just so amusing." He pulled back, smiling, and watched the other's black eyes as Sasuke realized what this meant for him._

_Those eyes widened, emphasized by the blood and tears still streaking his face. He lunged foreword swiftly and grabbed Oruchimaru. Blue chakra began to spark from his hands. "NO! I have to kill my bro-" _

_Kabuto stood behind him, blue chakra fading from his hands as the Uchiha crumpled to the ground. Oruchimaru grinned. This was _good.

_Not bothering to conceal his glee, he let out a hoarse, shrill laugh, clapping his hands together once._

_So what if his preferred body was incompetent? There were plenty of others to choose from. Sasuke had given him a cause to feel especially happy- watching people destroy themselves was fun, but watching such a strong, proud individual do so was very nearly priceless._

--

"Achoo!" Sasuke watched in amusement as Naruto nearly fell off the cot. "_Achoo!" _Sasuke's eyebrows dropped. Okay, maybe not so funny.

"Oy, dobe, you okay?" he asked, feigning indifference.

It really wasn't so funny in a hospital.

"Of c-c-o_urACHOO!"_ replied Naruto, eyes tearing. He sniffed. Sasuke watched him carefully. "Man, these hospital rooms really suck, you know that? I didn't think living in one would be that big a deal, but this is _so_ boring! And it's way too clean! It's not natural!"

Sasuke sighed. He should have known it would be something like that. "Hn."

Naruto looked at him curiously. "Hey Sasuke, don't you ever get bored in here? I mean you've bee staying here for like… ages!" Sasuke closed his eyes.

"Of course I got bored, idiot. Hospitals aren't meant to be _fun."_

Naruto stared at him with wide eyes. "So… what did you _do?_" he asked. Sasuke frowned.

What _had_ he done?

He thought back. Sleep, he realized. He slept a lot. That and get tested, which was never _boring, _certainly. Just painful and humiliating. After those, he would always go back to sleep. They were _tiring._

"…sleep," he finally replied flatly.

"Well, I'm not tired. So talk to me, jerk!"

Sasuke glared at him tiredly. What if he never slept again because of his friend? Then how could he face any tests? "I'm going to sleep," he said shortly, turning his back to the blonde. His eyes became heavy almost immediately.

"Well you're no fun," he heard Naruto mutter as his dreams swallowed him.

--

Well lookit! I updated! Wow, sorry about the wait. And the length, once again. And actually, I'm sorry about this chapter in general. I needed to fit in that flashback, but I couldn't figure out what to write to finish up the chapter, so that last bit is mostly filler. But the next chapter should be better 

Love ya for reading, love ya more if there's a review left over

…please? Feedback is excellent.

-Ume


	4. Chapter 4

"He-e-e-ey, Sas_uke!_" Naruto was laughing, despite his protests, "cut it out!"

"No way, you little twit," Sasuke replied. Sakura could tell he was almost smiling, even from her position outside the door, "I _warned_ you, don't call me that!"

"_Ba-_ldy, baldy, _bald-_EEYAA!" Sakura grinned. She could picture _exactly_ what her teammates looked like right now: Naruto would be laughing, his face all scrunched up as he pretended to be angry. He'd be sitting right next to Sasuke, crouching probably, to give himself a bit of height on the other boy. Sasuke, on the other hand, would have a look of total aloofness on his face as he tried to push Naruto away with his closed fist. As a result, Naruto's cheek would be all smushed as he ignored said fist and tried to invade Sasuke's personal space even _more._

Sakura smiled to herself, nodding once. That was definitely how it would be. She _knew_ her teammates.

And that, finally, was the _truth._

She was proud of herself. Being able to understand them was truly difficult, but she had finally done it in spite of all the strange surprises they had come out with.

She heard Naruto giggling. Still smiling, she turned so that she could lean on the wall next to the doorway and remain unseen. She could wait a little longer.

After Sasuke had returned from his betrayal completely broken, Sakura only saw him once face-to-face. After that encounter, she had apprenticed herself to Tsunade and trained hard to learn all that she could as fast as she could. People needed her now. She had to get strong enough that she never had to have someone else protect her ever again, and adept enough as a medic that nobody around her would ever die. Once she resolved this, she only ever saw glimpses of Sasuke, mostly as he was wheeled back and forth between tests and only when he wasn't aware of her. She wasn't ready to face him yet.

She'd face him, she decided, when she was a good enough medic to cure him.

Her smile wavered. Her throat started to ache. She hadn't managed to do it. She was going to break her promise to herself.

It was Tsunade who finally convinced her. 'He's started on some heavy-duty treatment, Sakura,' her sensei had explained, not looking at her student. 'He's beyond what any medic-nin can do.'

It had taken more persuasion than that, of course. But those words were, essentially, what got her here.

Her lower lip was twitching now. She _knew_ she was about to cry. But she couldn't _now!_

"Ugh," she muttered to herself in disgust, swiping at her eyes and heading off to the ladies room.

She could wait a _bit_ longer.

As she raced unsteadily through the hallways, she thought she saw Sasuke walk by her. She ducked and hid her face, not wanting his first sight of her in two years to be like _this._ It was only after the person passed her that she realized that there was no way they were Sasuke.

It must have been all the tears in her eyes, she decided, hiccupping.

--

_Kisame chuckled from his perch on the cliff overlooking Konoha. Itatchi looked at him, irritated, before closing his eyes in meditation once more._

_Kisame peered closer. Was that really the kid that was related to Itatchi? After a moment's speculation, he realized it probably was. Yes, there was no mistake- that was definitely the little Uchiha squirt down there. But why on earth was he trying to escape a hospital, of all things? And still in his hospital things? Tsk tsk, Kisame thought to himself, he can't be a very good Uchiha if he's willing to go out in public in hospital clothes. Those things were _ugly. _And soooooo unflattering. His grin widened._

_For amusement's sake, he tried to picture Itatchi doing the same thing. He puzzled for a few minutes, brow furrowed in concentration, before letting out a full-blown laugh. It was too funny. Uchiha dignity was _legendary,_ and Itatchi was the prize of the bloodline._

_His laughter got the older Uchiha to gaze at him yet again. "Kisame-san, what exactly is so funny?"_

"_Hmm, Itatchi! Your brother is a little bit undignified, isn't he? Heh heh," Kisame chuckled. At the mention of Sasuke, Itatchi's eyes whipped around to follow Kisame's gaze. His eyes widened._

"_Now what does my little brother think he's doing?" he murmured to himself, gazing intently at Sasuke._

--

Hnn, I dunno what to say. I'm going to stop apologizing for the length, 'cause it seems a bit insincere when I need to say it every single chapter. Though I _am _trying, believe it or not.

Umm, yeah. I'm bringing in a lot of characters, believe me. Itatchi's got a bit more plot to carry out, and then there are a few more. Loose ends, ya know?

Anyway, you know the drill Thank you for reading, and please leave me a review!


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